Arlene Tagliabue

Arlene Tagliabue, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully in her home in Harrington Park on March 23, 2024, after a long bout with Parkinson's Disease. The final entry in the diary maintained by her loving live-in aide read:

03/23/24

Arlene has gone to heaven to rejoice with the Angels.

We loved you Mom, but God loved you more.

RIP

Martha

Arlene was born to Arthur and Anne Umsteadt in Jersey City, NJ, and grew up in its "Heights" section north of Journal Square. After graduation, she was employed as an Administrative Assistant in the local office of the Commercial Division of American District Telegraph (now ADT).

She was married to Charles, also of Jersey City, on April 25, 1954, in Saint Anne's Church. In early July, she joined Charles, then an Ensign in the Navy, at the Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Peacetime duty at a base with amenities including golf, tennis, sailing, and several Clubs, represented, in effect, a 12-month "honeymoon". Travel with friends to nearby Cuban cities, towns, and beaches, and once, all the way to the eastern tip of the island, employed Jeeps over primitive dirt roads. These trips, together with visits to the nearby islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica, undoubtedly established her lifelong love of travel.

After a final Navy tour in Washington DC, the couple returned to New Jersey, settling in Cresskill for the next eight years. A five-year stay in Brockport, NY concluded in 1971 when Charles' employment brought them back to New Jersey and Harrington Park. There, Arlene was a member of the Hackensack Golf Club for forty years, enjoying tennis, golf, and camaraderie with a wide range of friends. Upon Charles' retirement in 1991, she became a seasonal resident of South Palm Beach, FL until her Parkinson's Disease curtailed travel in 2021.

In addition to her winter visits to Vermont and New Hampshire for cross-country skiing and Newport for boating in the summer, Arlene attended 18 Super Bowls, enjoying time in the many diverse host cities.

Overseas travel included visits to Japan, the Hawaiian Islands, England, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, and Greece together with the Greek Islands. However, Italy was her favorite. Travel ranged from Valle d'Aosta, Lake Maggiore, and Torino in the northwest to Lake Garda, Verona, and Venice in the northeast to Sicily, Puglia, and the Amalfi Coast in the south. Multiple trips to central Italy included visits to Rome, Lake Bracciano, Florence, Sienna, Perugia, Montecatini, Lucca, Genoa, and the Cinque Terra. Her "favorite among favorites" was Lake Como. Numerous visits included stays in the City of Como, the Villa D'Este, and the Hotel Florence in Bellagio.

In addition to her parents, Arlene was predeceased by a younger brother Bob in 1999. She is survived by her husband Charles, children Carl of Glens Falls, NY; Jill and husband Fran Shovlin of Ridgewood, NJ; and Mark and husband Kevin Hyman of Newport, RI as well as her grandchildren: Matt, Emily, and Lia Shovlin.

A Mass celebrating her life will be held at Our Lady of Victories Church in Harrington Park at 10:00 AM on Saturday, May 18. Family and friends are invited to a repast at the Tagliabue home after the Mass.

Memorial gifts may be made by US Mail to: Georgetown University-Fund a Fellow for Parkinson's, Office of Advancement, Department Number 0734, Washington, DC 20073.